She looked down at the tiny window, and two blue lines stared back up at her, clear as day.

“Fuck,” she hissed as she shook it in her hands to make sure it wasn’t broken.

She slapped it against her palms and looked at the result again, before she grabbed hold of the box and reread the instructions. But there was no denying it. The result was clear.

She was pregnant.

“Oh my fucking God,” she whispered as she slid down the wall in the bathroom and covered her mouth with her hands.

She had spent the majority of the previous evening trying to banish the worry from her mind, and so first thing in the morning when she had woken up, she had run down to Main Street to the pharmacy where she bought a test. When she got back home, she locked herself straight in the bathroom, and now there she was…

Sitting on the floor…

And PREGNANT.

“Oh sweet Jesus,” she whimpered as she rubbed her temples. “This wasn’t part of the life plan, not at this point, anyway,” she chewed her bottom lip nervously and reached for her cellphone.

Snake had been gone for four weeks, and now Sarah was pregnant with his baby.

There was nothing else for it, she was going to have to call him and she was going to have to ask him to come home.

“But they’ll hate you down at the club,” she said as she gritted her teeth and covered her eyes. “You can’t win here…”

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, hugging into herself.

“A baby,” she whispered, as a little smile spread across her lips. “My baby…”

The surge of emotions she was feeling was like nothing she could ever describe. She hadn’t been expecting anything so drastic and life changing to happen to her, but it had.

She was pregnant.

With Snake’s baby.

She was going to have a baby with a badass biker outlaw.

“Fuck,” she hissed again.

And not only that, but he was her brother’s best friend.

“Double fuck,” she whispered.

 

She lay down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. The night was cooling down, but Sarah still felt as if she were on fire. She had spent the day trying to get her head around what was happening, and her emotions had ranged from complete euphoria to absolute fear.

While she had been thinking, she had come to a decision.

“I am having this baby,” she had told herself. “Whether Snake is going to be involved or not.”

Sarah had always tried not to be, but she was a big believer in fate. She had never planned on returning to Slate Springs, her life was supposed to take her into the city where she would live and work as a hotshot lawyer. But, by complete chance, she had been pulled home, she had met someone, and now she was pregnant by them.

She was going to be a mother.

Her whole future and set of priorities had changed.

And she had never felt happier.

She let her hand lay flat across her belly and she smiled. She never, not in a million years, could have expected this would happen to her, but she had found herself there, and now it was time to move forward.

She rolled onto her side and picked up her cellphone where she tapped the screen to life and opened up her messages. She scrolled straight to Snake’s name and started to type…

S: I know I shouldn’t be contacting you, but we need to talk. It’s really important. Meet me at the cabin tomorrow at dusk… If you can’t get there, let me know xx

 

She hit send and hoped it sounded vague enough so that if any of his messages were being intercepted, then at least no one would know exactly where they were meeting.

She placed the phone down on the nightstand and then she lay back down in bed.

She knew she was going to have a long night ahead, but there was nothing else that could be done.

 

***

 

When morning came, she had barely slept, and she had checked her cellphone obsessively throughout the night, anticipating a reply from Snake.

When nothing came, she began to second guess everything she had decided already, and as the day wore on, her head became more and more tangled up with angst and emotions.

She didn’t know how, but she made it to dusk. And by the time she called through to her parents to tell them she was going to have a little walk down to the golf course, she was almost a nervous wreck.

The night air was crisp, and the sun glowed a deep pink in the distance as it began to sink down behind the mountains. Crickets chirped and in the distance, she could hear the roar of trucks thundering down the highway, and she wondered if on one of them, Snake was on his way to see her.

She walked slowly to the bottom of her garden, and when she started to slip behind the trees and disappear out of view from the house, she saw the cabin peaking up ahead of her. She smiled as she remembered the last time she had been there, and then she frowned.

Fucking Ranger.

Why was he so determined to ruin things for her?

She crossed her arms over her chest and cast her eyes all around the sprawling golf course ahead. It was clear, and no one was still playing, but she couldn’t help but wonder if anyone was watching her, and she started to feel uneasy.

She reached the cabin and began to walk around the side, and when she stepped into view of the door, she gasped and her heart skipped a beat.

“Babe,” Snake said as he rushed toward her with his arms opened wide.

“You came,” she breathed as she collapsed into him and let him hold her tightly.

“Of course I came,” he said as he cupped her face in his hands and stared deeply into her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

She looked up at him and smiled. It was so good to see him. He looked tired and weary, but he wasn’t hurt in any way, and that in itself was something to give her immense heart.

“Where have you been?” she said almost in a whisper. “Are you okay?”

Snake kissed her longingly on the lips and wrapped his arms around her.

It had been four weeks, but for the entire time, Sarah had felt like she had been starving. Now that she had him back in her arms, she wanted to feast on him. She never wanted to let him go.

Their lips broke apart and they smiled at each other.

“I was in Iron Hill,” he said quietly, before he began to lead her toward the cabin and he opened the door and pulled her inside.

“Are you worried someone has followed you?” she asked nervously.

Snake shook his head.

“We don’t need to worry about that,” he said as he traced a line with his finger down the side of her face and looked into her eyes.

“I was worried about you,” she said.

“And I’ve been worried about you too,” he admitted as he smiled at her and pulled her close.

“I’m sorry I had to contact you,” she whispered. “But there’s something I need to tell you, and it couldn’t wait…”

His eyes lit up for a moment, but then his brow furrowed as if he was worried what she was going to say. Deep inside her, Sarah’s nerves were rife and out of control, but she had to be strong. She had to carry this through and act like the capable woman she knew she was.

“Snake…” she said, before she had to pause and take a breath. “There’s no easy way to say this… I’m pregnant.”

She closed her eyes and winced, waiting for his reaction.

He didn’t say anything, and when she opened her eyes to look at him, he was running his hands through his hair and looking down at the ground with his eyes wide.

She bit her lip and her anxiety started to climb.

He looked completely stunned.

She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but she had at least hoped for some words.

“Are you sure?” he asked as he looked up into her eyes.

She could see that he was completely overwhelmed with emotion, but she couldn’t yet tell whether it was the good or bad kind.

“I’m very sure,” she whispered. “I’m two weeks late. And I took a test.”

She bit the edge of her thumb and kicked at the ground.

“I didn’t know what to do, but… I just knew I had to tell you. I couldn’t just hold all this in to myself.”

“Does anyone else know?” he asked.

She shook her head.

He moved closer to her and took hold of her hand and held it up to his lips. He kissed her knuckles longingly and then his eyes met hers again and he smiled.

“Wow,” he said happily. “I’m going to be a dad?”

Sarah smiled back at him and nodded her head slowly.

“I’m going to be a dad,” he said again, this time with much excitement and pride.

He pulled Sarah into his chest and kissed her again and again. He lavished her with his lips, running his hands through her hair and holding her so tightly she knew everything was going to be okay. He wanted this as much as she did.

It had been a surprise, but he was happy about it.

She was going to start a family.

Her and Snake were going to have a baby.

He held her back and looked at her and ran his fingers through her hair.

“Babe,” he whispered. “This is insane.”

“I know,” she smiled. “But I’ve never felt happier.”

“Me neither,” Snake said as he kissed her delicately on the lips and let his hand rest on her stomach. “This is the best news I’ve ever had.”

“I’m sure it’s not what you were expecting…” she said as she rested her forehead against his chest.

“It certainly wasn’t,” he whispered. “I thought you were going to tell me you were leaving town and didn’t want to see me again.”

“Are you kidding me?” she said as she looked up to him and slapped him playfully on the chest.

“I did just disappear on you for four weeks,” he said sheepishly. “And your brother…”

Sarah felt her stomach drop.

“Oh god,” she said. “We have to deal with Ranger…”

She looked off ominously, feeling all of her happiness disappear, but she could already feel Snake smiling.

She looked up at him and he was shaking his head.

“I’ve spoken with him,” he said as he smiled at her and pulled her close. “Everything is fine in that regard.”

“What do you mean?” she asked him, almost unable to believe her ears.

“He told me he was wrong,” he whispered as he brought his face right close to hers. “He told me he was so worried because he didn’t want to lose either of us. But he said he could see what we had the moment he turned up here and saw us watching the sun rise. He said he knew it was real. He knew we were meant to be…”

“We are meant to be,” she smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “There is no doubt about that.”

Snake kissed her on the lips and held her gaze.

It had been a complete whirlwind romance that had come out of the blue, but it was one that had changed both their lives forever.

“I’ve always wanted you,” Snake told her as he held her there and smiled. “And now I’ve got you.”

“Oh, you’ve certainly got me, baby,” she grinned. “And now we know the best is yet to come…”

Snake kissed her again and held her tightly.

They had met as children, grown up apart, and their lives had taken them in completely different directions, but they had come back together again.

Fate worked in mysterious ways…

But in Slate Springs, it always brought people home and exactly where they needed to be.

For Sarah and Snake, the journey was only just beginning.

 

THE END